Carlton's Catharsis
by redwolffclaw
Summary: Carlton would never forget his old partner, for obvious reasons. So when he finds out about a memorial shooting tournament in her honor, he couldn't resist entering. Small spoiler for Season 7 Episode 1


**Warnings:** Slight spoilers for Season 7 Episode 1: Santa Barbara Town 2, minor character death, tear jerker.

**Author's Notes:** It was a complete fluke that I found the plaque while re-watching the Season 7 premiere but when I saw the inscription on the plaque Shawn had looked at I was shocked that they had gone there and killed off poor Lucinda, needless to say, people were surprised and it led to some awesome fics!

I even wrote one of my own and here it is. Hope it entertains and makes you bawl as much as I did while writing it. :)

* * *

**8 Months Ago:**

**Location: Red Chief Firing Range**

There was only one name on everyone's lips that day, and they remembered her in the most cathartic way that police officers could. They shot stuff.

Few people at the SBPD really remembered Lucinda Barry, and some there knew her more than others. Carlton Lassiter was one who knew her well, and would never forget her. He had actually liked her, a lot. Looking around he saw a lot of people from the Goleta Police Department, where she was transferred to. She hadn't exactly been sent far away from the SBPD but after their relationship was outed... the spark was lost.

They had kept in touch once and a while, after a big case she would call and congratulate him. He would send her a card on her birthday, that type of thing. They had lost touch this last year and since he had met Marlowe, he hadn't really thought about her much.

One thing he wasn't expecting was a call one morning saying that she had been taken out by a perp during a hostage situation. "37 Years old." Carlton said sadly to himself before going out and having a drink.

He heard about the competition from a friend of his that went to the Red Chief Firing Range regularly. He usually frequented the other range across town, but had won a long range plaque from the Red Chief a year before. He was genuinely excited about going, and if there was anyone that was going to win that competition, it was him.

* * *

There were three main events in the competition. Accuracy, targets and fast draw. For fairness sake they only let each person enter one competition. It was a hard choice because Carlton knew he was great at each one but in the end he had settled for something that allowed him to shoot moving targets. Catharsis indeed.

Some guy Carlton didn't know won the first one. He found out later it was her Junior partner and Lucinda had been his shooting instructor. By the way he had smiled afterwards it had been a proud day for him. Carlton wished he had stuck around to shake the man's hand.

There were six other people in the targets competition and as they were reading off the names, whispers broke out as they came to his. Carlton was sure it was a mixture of things. He was Head Detective after all, and Shawn Spencer had made it no secret that he and Lucinda had been "involved" during her stint at the SBPD. Shutting out the whispers Carlton studied his opponent's forms until finally, it was his turn.

Stepping up he secured the rifle to his shoulder. He opened his eyes and ears as the first target sailed through the air.

_He remembered her smile. *_BANG*

_He remembered the way her hair felt. *_BANG*

_The way she looked when she was tackling a perp. *_BANG*

_Her blue eyes that matched his own. *_BANG*

_The way she interrogated that son of a... *_BANG*

_Her face when she... *_BANG*

_*_BANG*_*_BANG*_*_BANG*_*_BANG*

As the tenth one exploded he realized he was panting. Suddenly aware of how silent everything was, he looked around. All eyes were on him. He had managed to hit every target, but the last four were barely out of the launcher when he pegged them.

Polite clapping commenced and Carlton wiped at the sweat that was dripping into his eyes. It took him a moment to figure out it wasn't sweat dripping into his eyes, but tears falling out of them. He looked down at his wet hand in horror before handing the gun back and hurrying to his car. No plaque was worth having people see him cry.

He never knew he won the plaque and that it was proudly displayed by the firing range near his other one in the awards case.

* * *

Present:

Two men, one black and one white, each wearing half a beard walked up to the case. They weren't there to see Carlton's plaques but noticed them anyway.

In a rare move, Shawn Spencer looked at the plaques and actually complimented the Head Detective's shooting skills. For someone who prided himself in his ability to notice things, he missed the inscription on the one near the bottom or he definitely would have mentioned something about a meeting in a shooting range almost seven years before.

"LUCINDA BARRY MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT"

FIRST PLACE: Carlton Lassiter

EVENT TWO:

ALL TARGETS THROWN

YELLOW CLASS


End file.
